Pete 75C Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 (edited) Edited for layout name change to Ripple Lane. Jump to post #1089 Nothing wrong with starting the thread with a bit of inspiration. Circa 1985(ish)... © Copyright Martin Addison and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. Here we go again... I sometimes have a problem making my mind up. Before the "big move", I reckon I have one layout left to build. Unless I make lots of bad decisions and it ends up looking like a Thomas Trackmat, it may even go in the back of the van and venture to some local small shows... but that's for the future. The more immediate concern was "what to build?"...For those of you that know Croydon North Street, personally I think that turned out ok but as is typical with me, as soon as it was built I passed it on. Darren, if you're reading this, I'd still quite like it back!So to stem off the withdrawal symptoms... welcome to Wandsworth Park. A similar size, a similar South London location (a real place, but a fictional station again). Maybe 70s/80s instead of NSE 80s/90s this time. Personally I always thought North Street could do with some extra storage sidings and why not throw in an extra platform on a slightly different alignment to cater for the odd DMU off the West London line? Apart from that, there are pleny of similarities. British Rail Southern Region is clearly my comfort zone. Although I've dabbled with N gauge and continental, I do keep coming back to it so why resist?The boards are built and the track plan (sort of) finalised. Why go back to the 70s this time? Well, I do have a thing for the humble Cortina and it would be nice to see a couple of those on the layout. I even quite like the Austin Princess although I'd need to be drunk to admit it. Oh, and I might also accidentally have bought a 2BIL in blue... Let's get the boring woodwork pictures out of the way... Next step will be to play around with all the track and see if the paper plan works or not.I must confess I am looking forward to getting stuck in with this one. Comments, suggestions and of course criticism always welcome... Edited May 27, 2016 by Pete 75C 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold lezz01 Posted October 28, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 28, 2015 Hi there Pete. The woodwork pics may be boring, but they do show very good woodworking skills. I look forward to seeing this developing. Regards Lez.Z. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
omgTrain Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Going to follow this one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Hi there Pete. The woodwork pics may be boring... These are probably the simplest boards I've ever built. 3 identical 4ft x 2ft boards topped with 12mm ply and framed with 3"x1" PSE (69mm x 21mm). All scenery will be rail height and above, with nothing below track level, so I didn't see the need for any kind of open-frame construction. I had bought some 18mm ply to rip for the framing but my table saw has finally died. Everything is so out of true that the ply strips were slightly banana-shaped thanks to a badly designed wobbly fence (cheap saw). The softwood I've had for some time, so a shame to waste it. It stopped "growing" some time ago and is as straight as a die (whatever that means). Hard to tell in the pics, but I have used strips of 15m hardwood at each baseboard end to provide a good strong fixing for copperclad sleeper strips. The 15mm hardwood actually dictated the use of 12mm ply instead of my usual 9mm. The height difference between the ply and the hardwood was a perfect match for the cork floor tiles that I always use on top of the ply. Alignment is with brass dowels and boards are held together with coach bolts and wingnuts. Framing under the ply is minimal but each board is very solid and can easily take the weight of a big lump (me) stood on it. *Most* of the pointwork will be on the centre board to make life easier. The centre board has removable height-adjustable legs at either end and the left and right boards piggy-back off of the centre board with just one pair of legs each. Pointwork will be Peco Code 75 electrofrog although I was very tempted to use Tillig again. Plain track will be a mix of Exactoscale wooden sleeper bases with bullhead rail and Exactoscale concrete sleeper bases with flatbottom rail. The sleeper spacing of the Exactoscale bases will be "tightened up" a little before each point so the difference in sleeper spacing won't be quite so apparent. Hoping to loosely pin down the pointowrk tomorrow and assemble some lengths of plain track and have a play to see if there's anything about the track plan that doesn't work. Tweaks may be needed! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornish trains jez Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Very nice woodwork Pete, can't wait to see this one develop. On your plan, what is the building that backs onto the storage yard? Best regards, Jeremy 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Planning any more Lego scenics? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Hi Pete, SO Blue 33's, 73's 47's etc, wow, Nice plan, just one question please, and its NOT a criticism, but why the Coach Bolts, I changed over to over centre latches about 4 years ago and its so much easier to align on the Dowels and then one clip and its done, no scrabbling under boards. Really looking forward to following this Build and seeing how things develop. All the best. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 (edited) On your plan, what is the building that backs onto the storage yard? It's a low relief modern steel-clad loco shed with an entrance at both ends. Tight up against the backscene, it also cunningly disguises the exit from the run round loop. Expect to see locos popping out from where you didn't expect to see locos popping out from... Planning any more Lego scenics? Is the Pope catholic? Hi Pete, SO Blue 33's, 73's 47's etc, wow, Nice plan, just one question please, and its NOT a criticism, but why the Coach Bolts, I changed over to over centre latches about 4 years ago and its so much easier to align on the Dowels and then one clip and its done, no scrabbling under boards. I have some centre latches somewhere Andy and may fit them as well. The coach bolts are part of a "belt and braces" approach. As the left and right boards only have a pair of legs at one end, I'm a little paranoid about undoing the centre latches and having a board crash to the floor. Using long 100mm coach bolts, I can remove the wing nuts totally and the bolt itself will still carry the weight of the board until I'm ready to lift it apart. Just call me paranoid! Edited October 28, 2015 by Pete 75C 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Watching with interest as I'm sure it'll be up to your usual quality ! Can I ask without trawling through the he threads, what's occurring with the other sweeping curves southern one and the Spanish seaside ? Still ongoing or aborted Pete ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Hi Rob. I bit off more than I could chew with West Croydon... I really didn't have the space for such a big "roundy" so it was sold part-finished to RMWeb's St.Simon who renamed it Norwood Road and will see it through to completion. The seasidey Spanish N gauge layout is stored ready for the move to Spain. I only ever wanted to get that part-built to give me something manageable to work on in the future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Hi Pete, Fair play, looking forward to this one Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Hi Pete, Looks interesting, I look forward to seeing it develop, I have no doubt that it is up to the same standard as North Street and West Croydon! Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparxD428 Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Will be following this one with interest too Pete. Cheers, Stu. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.C.M Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Hi Pete, I like the sound of this one so will be following, very nice work on the baseboards. Only comment on the trackplan is you might have a bit too much track. Maybe a siding or two too many. Cheers Peter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Hi Pete, I like the sound of this one so will be following, very nice work on the baseboards. Only comment on the trackplan is you might have a bit too much track. Maybe a siding or two too many. Cheers Peter. It's funny you should say that! I've spent the morning pinning track down loosely and I'm just about to upload some pics. "Too much track" was my first thought before I'd even read your post! I think something has to go... I'll get the pics uploaded but I'm thinking the cripple road at the front of the plan will bite the dust. Shame, as it would have been nice to dump some condemned stock there as was done throughout Selhurst Depot and Norwood Down Yard (for example) back in the 70s and early 80s. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Full-size track planning pics as promised. Photos taken under artificial light so apologies for the orange tint. Forgive the mix&match of Peco, Tillig and Exactoscale as well as the odd bit of bullhead rail. Pinning track down on the actual board is really useful to me to see if it works or not. As Peter rightly points out, it looks a bit busy and maybe the siding at the very front of the layout will have to go. I'd like to keep the 2 short loco sidings as it would be nice to have a loco or two ticking over when there are no arrivals or departures. I'll revisit the plan and see what can be done. I want the layout to have more operating potential than North Street but I don't want it to be all track. "Rock and a hard place" springs to mind. 15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southwich Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Looks like a good a good plan Pete! Will be following with interest. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 (edited) Definitely thinking of losing the cripple road and perhaps replacing the two loco sidings with one long headshunt serving the depot. On paper it looks less "messy" so will have a play full-size tomorrow. If I'm honest, I'm also having second thoughts about the line into the top platform (Platform 1) arriving on a different alignment. Anyone else think it just looks odd? It was suggested on another thread to have this track at a slightly different height, just a couple of feet in 1/1 scale. Maybe that would work. I definitely want to make as many mistakes as possible now... I'm happier moving map tacks than I would be ripping up glued track. Edited October 30, 2015 by Pete 75C 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
omgTrain Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 (edited) I think you have done the right thing losing those two front most sidings. Allows your eye to move into the scene, instead of instantly being focused on the front most track. Greater sense of depth. Edited October 29, 2015 by omgTrain Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
emt_911 Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Evening Pete Another quality layout to follow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold mudmagnet Posted October 29, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 29, 2015 Looking good Pete. Like the wood work, nice solid boards. The revised track plan looks better, often less is more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Thanks guys. I thought I'd got the planning stage out of the way before beginning the thread but it really does prove that there's no substitute for laying everything out full size. It either works or it doesn't. Last night I thought it would be a good idea to lose the loco sidings and the long siding at the very front of the layout. The loco sidings were to be replaced by one long headshunt serving the depot. Well, that seems a bit daft to me as a vacant platform can be used as a headshunt, especially as I'm not anticipating all platforms to be occupied at all times. I do still like the idea of having a couple of locos ticking over so the loco sidings will stay. Also had a play around with the platform arrangement and have got rid of the island. There was something about the odd "kink" in the track leading off from the single slip which didn't look right to me. Replacing a Y point with a RH point gets rid of that and allows a nice subtle curve to Platforms 2 and 3. Knowing me, I'll have changed my mind again by lunchtime but here's what I'm thinking of... Pinning some track down later will see if it looks ok. If not, I'll revisit square one again. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Hi pete, I like the loco sidings to, the latest idea with the platforms looks better as we'll. Cheers Graham Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.C.M Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Hi Pete, I have a few questions if you don't mind. Hopefully in answering then it will help you plan your track layout and what you will eventually run. Is the long line at the top going to be the only platform siding? I am also not sure where the loco shed is going to be, and where the scenic break is going to be. Also what are the siding on front of the fiddle yard going to be used. I notice that there is nowhere to bring in a freight and run round. I am not sure you need two double slips. I really like your idea of having some withdrawn stock maybe a siding at the back of the layout could work. Trains. Passenger wise is it just EMUs and DMUs? Loco hauled vans and a Passenger may be for the rush hour would add interest. A lot of terminus stations have storage siding/s for empty stock. 70s freight could be very interesting with old unfitted and Vac braked wagons mixing with the newer speedlink wagons. What freight flows are you thinking of ? A daily speedlink could bring in a variety of wagons for local industries plus a block train would be good coal, oil, Ballast. Cheers Peter. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Nice questions Peter, and I do agree that a run around is a must Pete, especially for some Parcels Stock that could sit in P1 with a whole load of Bute Trollies. Also a siding along the front like I had on Deesdale Road (I had 2) was a great place to dump the odd Engineers wagon or two as well, more operation and still with a Loco or two sitting ticking over at the front. All the best, and see my reply to you in Pencarne Jct. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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